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Kyodo news summary -5-(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) TOKYO, Oct. 28 -- (Kyodo) _ ---------- Japan's key bond yield ends flat before FOMC TOKYO - The yield on the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond ended flat Monday as investors refrained from active trading ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy board meeting starting Tuesday. The yield on the No. 330, 0.8 percent issue, the main yardstick of long-term interest rates, ended interdealer trading at 0.610 percent, unchanged from Friday's close. ---------- Komatsu revises net profit estimate downward TOKYO - Construction machinery builder Komatsu Ltd. revised downward Monday its group net profit estimate for fiscal 2013 from an earlier projected 184 billion yen to 136 billion yen, up 7.7 percent from the previous year. It also lowered its group sales estimate from 2.05 trillion yen to 1.86 trillion yen, down 1.3 percent from the previous year, citing less-than-expected demand for mining machines in Latin America, Oceania and Indonesia. ---------- FEATURE: Ramen from across Japan now delivered to your home TOKYO - You no longer have to travel far and wide to try ramen noodles or dishes from popular restaurants that are much talked about. On takumen.com operated by Gourmet Innovation Co., you can find ramen noodles with miso, soy sauce or pork bone broth soups among other varieties from around 100 famous shops across Japan. ---------- TPP chief negotiators to meet in U.S. in Nov. SINGAPORE - The chief negotiators from 12 countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations will meet in Salt Lake City in the United States from Nov. 19 to 26 with an aim to strike a deal by the year's end, official sources said Monday. The meeting in Utah will lay the groundwork for a gathering of TPP ministers in Singapore on Dec. 7 to 9. ---------- 3 dead after car plows into crowd in Tiananmen Square BEIJING - A passenger vehicle plowed into a crowd of tourists and caught fire in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on Monday, leaving at least three people dead, local police said. The police said on their official microblog site that the incident took place around 12:05 p.m., also injuring some people in the crowd near one of the ancient bridges in front of the Forbidden City, where the vehicle burst into flames after crashing into a guardrail. ---------- Evacuees from typhoon-hit Izu Oshima Island return home IZU OSHIMA, Japan - Thirty-four evacuees from typhoon-hit Izu Oshima Island, mostly elderly and disabled people, returned to the island Monday afternoon on a chartered vessel, after the evacuation order and advisory issued for the entire island were lifted Saturday. They were among some 100 evacuees from the island, some 120 kilometers south of Tokyo, whom the Tokyo metropolitan government had been housing at facilities away from the island. ---------- Dollar hovers in upper 97 yen before FOMC TOKYO - The U.S. dollar hovered mostly in the upper 97 yen range Monday in Tokyo in a wait-and-see mood ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting from Tuesday. At 5 p.m., the dollar fetched 97.57-58 yen compared with 97.34-44 yen in New York and 97.01-03 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Friday. It moved between 97.44 yen and 97.70 yen during the day, changing hands most frequently at 97.56 yen. ---------- Mizuho Bank president, other execs face pay cuts over shady loans TOKYO - Mizuho Bank President Yasuhiro Sato said Monday his salary will be cut for six months and other executives will resign from their posts or face pay cuts following revelations of the bank's loans to members of organized crime groups. After submitting a business improvement report to the Financial Services Agency, Mizuho announced that Mizuho Bank Chairman Takashi Tsukamoto will step down on Nov. 1, while two executives in charge of risk management and compliance will resign from their posts at the bank and its parent Mizuho Financial Group Inc. Tsukamoto will remain chairman of Mizuho Financial Group. ---------- LDP's Komura to visit U.S. to attend ex-envoy Foley's funeral TOKYO - Masahiko Komura, vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, will visit the United States Tuesday as a special envoy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to attend the funeral of former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Foley, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said Monday. The memorial service for Foley, former U.S. House of Representatives speaker, will be held at the Capitol building. Komura is not scheduled to hold talks with any senior U.S. officials. ---------- TPP countries to speed up talks on intellectual property: official TOKYO - Countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade talks wrapped up a five-day working group meeting on intellectual property in Tokyo on Monday, with a Japanese official saying the negotiators will speed up discussions to conclude an overall TPP deal by the end of this year. After hosting a TPP meeting for the first time in Tokyo, Japan's deputy chief negotiator Hiroshi Oe told a press conference that all matters in question had been discussed and progressed to the point he was hoping to reach before the meeting. ---------- KDDI's 1st-half net profit more than doubles to 163 bil. yen TOKYO - Telecom carrier KDDI Corp. said Monday its group net profit for the April-September period jumped 104.4 percent from a year earlier to a record 163.01 billion yen due to strong smartphone sales and usage revenue, as well as a decline in special losses. Consolidated operating profit surged 50.3 percent to 347.61 billion yen on operating revenue of 2.05 trillion yen, up 18.0 percent and also a record, in the first half of fiscal 2013. ---------- Japan, EU to confirm efforts to resolve Iranian nuclear issue TOKYO - Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Catherine Ashton, the European Union's foreign policy chief, met in Tokyo on Monday to confirm cooperation in resolving the Iranian nuclear issue and advancing the ongoing free trade talks between Tokyo and Brussels. Kishida and Ashton are also expected to discuss the agenda for a meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his EU counterparts being planned in Tokyo in the second half of next month. ---------- WHO keeps watch on H7N9 bird flu as winter nears HONG KONG - The World Health Organization called Monday for vigilance on a potential H7N9 avian influenza outbreak in the fall and winter months when flu cases tend to rise. "There is a possibility for the new flu to set off a global outbreak," WHO Director General Margaret Chan said on the sidelines of a WHO meeting in Macao. ---------- Toshiba to sell Poland TV factory to Taiwan manufacturer TOKYO - Electronics maker Toshiba Corp. said Monday it will sell its television manufacturing base in Poland to a Taiwan partner company as part of the restructuring of its television business. The liquid crystal display TV company Toshiba Television Central Europe Sp.zo.o., which serves the European market, will be sold to Compal Electronics Inc. by next March but will continue to supply Toshiba products to Europe via outsourcing. ---------- Japan automakers log 1st domestic output rise in 13 months TOKYO - Eight major Japanese automakers said Monday their combined domestic output in September increased 12.8 percent from a year earlier to 827,139 vehicles, the first year-on-year rise in 13 months. Industry sources attributed the upturn to two factors: new models sold well, and the comparison to year-earlier sales was less affected by the termination of government subsidies for purchases of eco-friendly vehicles. The program expired in September 2012. ---------- China accuses Japan premier of being "provocative" BEIJING - China on Monday blamed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for repeatedly making "provocative" remarks toward Beijing and on regional security. A day after Abe issued a new warning against China's growing maritime activities near Japanese-controlled islets in the East China Sea, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said, "This once again shows that pretentious Japanese politicians are deceiving themselves with their guilty conscience." ---------- NTT Com to buy 2 U.S. firms to enhance cloud computing services TOKYO - NTT Communications Corp. said Monday it will acquire majority shares in two U.S.-based computer service companies for about $875 million to enhance its ability to offer online access to software and data storage for clients globally. The Japanese long-distance telecom carrier said it will acquire a 100 percent stake in Colorado-based cloud computing services provider Virtela Technology Services Inc. for about $525 million and an 80 percent stake in California-based RagingWire Data Centers for some $350 million. ---------- Taiwan, Japan allowed to catch more tuna next year TAIPEI - Taiwan and Japan have been allocated bigger catch quotas for southern bluefin tuna next year following two years of strict control under a allowable catch scheme, Taiwan's Fisheries Agency said Monday. The agency said in a statement the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna agreed at the 20th annual meeting in Adelaide, Australia early this month that the global allowable catch for next year will be set at 12,449 ton, 1,500 tons more than this year. ---------- Thailand, Cambodia vow to keep peace on border ahead of ICJ ruling BANGKOK - Thailand and Cambodia vowed Monday to maintain peace and order along their border ahead of a ruling by the International Court of Justice on Nov. 11 on their territorial dispute around the ancient Preah Vihear temple. Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul and his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong told a joint press conference following a meeting along the border that the two countries will maintain peace at the border, whatever the ruling is. (c) 2013 Kyodo News International, Inc. |